With the Ricoh Woodbine Mile being part of the Breeders’ Cup ‘Win and You’re In’ program, Oscar Performance earned a fees-paid berth into the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs on November 3.

Trainer Brian Lynch was thrilled to add the Woodbine Mile to his list of accomplishments.

“It is a very prestigious race,” said Brian Lynch, who conditions the homebred Oscar Performance for John and Jerry Amerman. “It’s nice to be able to put your name beside it. Throughout your career, there are signature races you’d like to win and mine has always been to win the Woodbine Mile. It’s nice to accomplish that.”

“I thought Jose rode him beautifully and his last quarter was sensational. It’s nice to see him back and it’s a ‘Win and You’re In’ and we’ve got six weeks to the Breeders’ Cup. Now we can take a deep breath and do the best we can to have him right on that day.”

Oscar Performance, with Ortiz following Lynch’s script, took advantage of the lack of pace in the Woodbine Mile and cut out all the fractions of :24.60, :48.78 and 1:11:49 en route to a 1:33.12 final time over firm going.

“I figured with the scratching of the filly (La Sardane), he’d be the speed of the race and he looked very comfortable throughout,” said the trainer. “I talked to Jose earlier in the day and said, ‘I’m not going to tell you how to ride the race, but the only thing I can tell you is it’s a hell of a long stretch there, so be patient.’”

Ortiz, confident throughout, was pleased that Oscar Performance returned to winning form after being pulled up for precautionary reasons last time out when sent to post as the mutuel favourite in the Arlington Million.

“At the quarter pole, I saw somebody getting close to me,” said Ortiz. “But when I asked him to go, he really accelerated. He gave me a great turn of foot and he kept going.

“It’s very special. I’m very emotional right now,” continued Ortiz. “He’s my favourite horse. He gave me my first Breeders’ Cup, I’m just happy he’s back.”

Lynch watched the Woodbine Mile from Saratoga while his wife and assistant, Erin, did the honours here.

“He gave us a lot of confidence going into this race from the way he’d been working. I think Jose (Ortiz) rode him very confidently, established an early and dictated the term,” said Lynch. “I wouldn’t say he wasn’t pressured, he (Mr Havercamp) was sitting no more than three-quarters of a length off him at a real critical stage of the race, but obviously ‘Oscar’ was back on his ‘A’ game today. He gave us that signature move when he asked him to open up, and he maintained.”

Mr Havercamp, trained locally by Catherine Day Phillips, stalked Oscar Performance throughout and took a stretch-long run at the winner only to fall short under regular rider Eurico Rosa da Silva.

“I’m so proud of him,” said da Silva. “He gave it his best. We went a very slow pace for this race, but I needed to make a decision. If I pressed the pace, I would probably lose second.”

Woodbine’s leading rider, who picked up his 2000th career win in North America on Friday, never felt like he was getting to the winner.

“No, not at any point,” said da Silva. “I was hoping but I saw he had a little more horse than I did. I’m very happy to finish second.”

Stormy Antarctic, one of two English raiders in the field, tracked the pace from fourth after breaking from the outside and rallied solidly for third money, just a neck behind Mr Havercamp as a 15.40-1 chance.

“Lovely run,” said Gerald Mosse, who piloted Stormy Antarctic for trainer Ed Walker. “Not a good draw to be able to be behind the first two.

“Had an ideal scenario and was coming like he was going to do something, but the ground is a bit quick for him. If the ground was a bit on the soft side, he’d have been a solid contender. He still gave me his best, but he needed a little bit more give in the ground.”

Delta Prince, the 2.20-1 favourite, had a perfect stalking trip along the inside but failed to fire and wound up fourth, a length shy of third money.

“Really disappointing,” said jockey Javier Castellano. “He didn’t show up today for some reason. He was flat. Had a nice comfortable rhythm behind the winner, but when I asked him at the top of the stretch, he just didn’t respond.”

Divisidero, at 14-1, was within range in sixth place through the early going but had to settle for fifth money despite finishing well.

Lord Glitters, the other European in the Woodbine Mile field and the third choice at 3.35-1, trailed early and rallied late on the outside to finish sixth, beaten only four lengths for all the money.

Good Samaritan, moving back to turf after an eight-race campaign on the main track, failed to menace and finished seventh as the 6.75-1 third choice.

Vanish, the rank outsider in the field at 94.15-1, was in touch through the first three-quarters of a mile but faltered to finish last of eight.

Oscar Performance had given both Lynch and Ortiz their first Breeders’ Cup wins in the 2016 edition of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita. The Woodbine Mile was the third Grade 1 stakes win for Oscar Performance, who was bred in Kentucky by Jerry Amerman.

Oscar Performance paid $7.70, $4.30 and $3.70. He combined with Mr Havercamp ($7.70, $5.20) for a $2 exacta worth $57. Stormy Antarctic ($7.50) completed the trifecta, which paid $293.35 for a $1 ticket, and Delta Prince rounded out the superfecta, worth $913.95 for a $1 ticket.

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9.16.2017

TORONTO, September 16 — World Approval earned intercontinental plaudits at Woodbine on Saturday with his convincing win in the Grade 1, Ricoh Woodbine Mile, the second straight for trainer Mark Casse following Tepin’s tour de force here last year.Success in the $800,000 Ricoh Woodbine Mile earned World Approval a guaranteed berth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, a one-mile turf race for three-year-olds and upward which will be run at Del Mar on November 4.And trainer Mark Casse, who missed his Woodbine Mile win for the second straight year and was contacted by phone at Keeneland, is eager to take up the Breeders’ Cup officials on their offer on behalf of owner/breeder Charlotte Weber. “As long as he's healthy, we are going to the Breeders' Cup,” said Casse. “Am I confident we can win? I don't think I would change places with anybody.”World Approval rode the rail while close or on the front end throughout the Woodbine Mile and pulled away in early stretch with a knockout 2 ½ length tally under John Velazquez."He was going so well the whole way around,” said Velazquez, who was extending his record number of Woodbine Mile winners to five.“I was just hoping when he switched down the lane and I asked him that he would respond. That's exactly what he did. As soon as he switched, I let him know, he took off. He was ready."I wasn't sure who the speed horse was going to be and I see he's always been pretty close to the pace, not on the lead, but pretty close,” said Velazquez, who was riding World Approval for the first time.“He broke well today, no one seemed to want the lead, I just kind of left him there and he held on very well."Breaking from the inside post, World Approval was sitting just a head off pacemaker Dragon Bay through honest fractions of :23.77 and :46.45.Deauville was close up in third and moved into second as World Approval hit the front through six furlongs in 1:10.31.The backfield was in motion turning for home as Lancaster Bomber, Long On Value, Mondialiste and Arod launched their rallies, but World Approval had found another gear by then and the 2017 Woodbine Mile was history.
Lancaster Bomber, one of five European invaders for the Woodbine Mile and looking to become the first three-year-old to win the race, was the first to arrive and finished second as the 4.55-1 third choice, a half-length before 9.60-1 Long On Value.One of two runners in the field for trainer Aidan O’Brien, Lancaster Bomber was ridden by Wayne Lordan. “I thought the race was run really steady for my horse,” said Lordan. “He quickened well and got to the line well. He ran a good race. He finished out good.“Maybe a stronger pace might have helped, but he ran a good, solid race.”Long On Value, shipping from New York for conditioner Bill Mott, did not have the smoothest of sailing for jockey Joel Rosario, but edged Mondialiste by a nose for third money.“I just didn’t have any luck to get out,” said Rosario. “In the end, I never got through and had to point towards the outside and he lost a little momentum. He ran a very impressive race.”Mondialiste, based in England and the winner of the 2015 Woodbine Mile, had to settle for fourth money this time at odds of $13.65-1.A half-length back Arod recorded a second fifth-place finish in the Woodbine Mile and was followed by another half-length by fellow European shipper Dutch Connection.Conquest Panthera, a second Casse entrant, was coming off a win in the Grade 2 Play the King, the main local prep for the race, but finished seventh after racing forwardly to the final furlong.Tower of Texas, making his third Woodbine Mile appearance with the last a bang-up second behind Tepin, ended eighth with fellow locals Glenville Gardens and Best Bard ninth and 10th, respectively.With Casse absent, assistant trainers David Adams and Kathryn Sullivan did the honours on Saturday."It's always sweet to win big races, but it means more at Woodbine," said Casse."We had horses running all over the place and Mrs. Weber said she was going so I said, 'Well, can you handle it?' and she said she could. I was at command central in Keeneland buying horses and we had them running everywhere so it was last minute and I just decided not to come. She said she was going. We're trying to buy the next Woodbine Mile winner."World Approval, a turf specialist who was bred in Florida by Mrs. Weber, was notching his third Grade 1 win after taking Saratoga’s one-mile Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap last time out and Monmouth’s 1 3/8 mile United Nations last year. "I couldn't be more thrilled, more excited for the farm, for Woodbine,” said Charlotte Weber, mistress of the Live Oak operation. "I've been waiting to win here and be here so this is it.""Johnny did a beautiful job, he saved ground, the horse seemed to be happy where he was and he just stayed there and took the race away. I am thrilled."The 13-race Ricoh Woodbine Mile card boasted a record $13,659,735 handle surpassing last year’s mark of $9.6-million.World Approval returned $6.70, $3.90 and $3, and the 1-10 exacta with Lancaster Bomber ($5.30, $4) checked in at $42. Long on Value ($5.30) completed a 1-10-3 $1 trifecta of $199.20 with Mondialiste rounding out a 1-10-3-8 superfecta worth $1,115.20.

10.7.2018

ELMONT, N.Y. - The fourth time was the charm for Fourstar Crook on Saturday at Belmont Park, finally nabbing the Grade 1 that has eluded her with a last-to-first victory over stablemate Onthemoonagain in the $500,000 Flower Bowl to punch her ticket to the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. It was the first Grade 1 for the 6-year-old Freud mare following three near misses in the last 12 months, with a third in the E.P. Taylor last fall, and a pair of seconds to fellow Brown trainee Sistercharlie in the Jenny Wiley and Beverly D. this spring and summer. Fourstar Crook got away from the gate under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. and settled at the back of the pack as Feeling Bossy led the field of seven through an opening quarter-mile in 25.71. The leader began to pull away after an easy half in 51.72, while Onthemoonagain began to advance through the field up the backstretch, moving into second as six furlongs went in 1:15.80. Onthemoonagain, ridden by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, grabbed the lead with a three-wide move at the top of the stretch, but all eyes were on Fourstar Crook, beginning her rally from the back. Ortiz directed his charge into the clear and Fourstar Crook responded with a sustained rally to sweep past her stablemate at the sixteenth pole for a two-length win. Grade 2 Glens Falls winner Lady Montdore was another 4 ¾ lengths back in third. Danceland, Feeling Bossy, Tricky Escape, and Holy Helena completed the order of finish. The final time for 1 ¼ miles on the inner turf course listed as good was 2:03.28. Fourstar Crook, favored at 4-5, returned $3.60 for a $2 win wager. "She flew home," said Ortiz. "She was going so comfortable and when I asked, she just exploded." Winner of the Grade 2 New York and Grade 2 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs this spring, Fourstar Crook improved her record to 12-4-1 from 19 starts and boosted her lifetime earnings to $1,604,566. It was the fifth Flower Bowl win for trainer Chad Brown, who campaigns Fourstar Crook for Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stable, and Gary Aisquith.
"This horse ran super," said Brown. "We expected a short field and that the pace wouldn't be that strong, and it wasn't, but she was able to overcome it. She's a really consistent horse and she particularly likes Belmont. She ran to her odds. She seemed very deserving to finally win a Grade 1. When you look at who she's beaten when she's not in Grade 1s, and who she's lost to by short margins, this filly is very deserving to finally achieve that and remarkable at age six."